Posts Tagged ‘Side effects for RA medicine’

<<Back to Toolkit for RD care page Medication side effects are highly individual Side effects of medications are a reality for people with Rheumatoid Disease (PRD), ranging from a minor nuisance to serious health dangers. Be careful to not prejudge the way side effects may affect people. Side effects, like medication benefits, are extremely individual […]

My brief story about ciprofloxacin and Rheumatoid Arthritis I got a kidney infection shortly after starting Enbrel. It was Good Friday 2009. My kidney hurt and fever spiked to 104.5, after 3 days of UTI. Before then, I’d only had a minor UTI with pregnancy. This is when my GP got the nickname “Good GP” […]

When I met my first rheumatologist, I left with a handful of prescriptions. One for folic acid. Really? Did I need a prescription for a vitamin? Doc said “to make sure it’s enough, yes, it’s a lot more than a daily allowance.” I already knew why over the counter supplements (OTC) are not considered as reliably […]

Yesterday, we discussed the frequently-asked question of the consequences of not treating RA. People also sometimes say they just can’t take Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment any longer because “it’s even worse than the disease.” Why do patients say that and what’s a reasonable response? Let’s be clear about terms: Treatment: medicine used to improve disease activity […]

Does RA Disease cause hair loss? Hair loss is one of the things you frequently hear about in the RA community. Patients have two questions: What’s causing my hair loss? What can I do about it? Hair loss can be a side effect of Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment Some DMARDs (disease modifying antirheumatic drugs) list hair […]

I thought it was brilliant the other day when a commenter called RA “the ghost disease.” It’s true that many RA myths persist and that researchers don’t yet know exactly how Rheumatoid Arthritis works. Which joints can be affected? Is there a nutritional cure that we are overlooking? Confusion about RA is perpetuated in […]

Hopefully not. People often state that drugs used to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis cause cancer as an accepted fact. They say they that shortening the length of life is worth the quality of life they gain from treatment. Personally, I’m tremendously interested in both. Rheumatoid Arthritis has long been known to increase risk of cancer, especially […]

If I cited a percentage of patients who get a cough from Orencia, then I’d quote a source – probably a clinical trial. However, if I merely say, as a patient, that Orencia gave me a cough, then that is a firsthand experience and that’s another type of credible source for other patients. Diabetes blogger […]

Many patients take low enough doses of methotrexate that they don’t even have side effects… But, some strange methotrexate side effects are for real No one ever told me methotrexate could have side effects. I’m not complaining! I think that worked for me. I didn’t approach the treatment with fear. Don’t get me wrong – […]

Folic acid & methotrexate: a tug of war Methotrexate is the most common medicine used to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis. However, some say it is still a mystery exactly how it works. Several sources I’ve read say that, because methotrexate is a folate antagonist, it inhibits the production of harmful cells with Rheumatoid Arthritis in a […]

This is the fourth post in a series about modern approaches to prednisone uses for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Please read the first post, Prednisone Dosage for Rheumatoid Arthritis, here at this link. Does prednisone have a disease modifying effect? Is it a double-edged sword? What’s the greatest risk of prednisone use that you may not have […]

Can prednisone side effects occur even with low doses? This is the third post in a series about approaches to the use of prednisone for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Please read the first post, Prednisone Dosage for Rheumatoid Arthritis, here at this link. Do prednisone side effects occur even at lower dosages? How quickly do they occur? […]